Finding Dory - directed by Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane
Screenplay: Andrew Stanton
Music Score by: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky
Edited by: Axel Geddes
Running Time: 103 minutes
Rated: G - safe for all!
I seem to be one of the very few people who was not completely won over by "The Lion King" and "Finding Nemo".
I think that both Disney and Pixar have done far better work and I find both films pretty ordinary.
I even gave "Finding Nemo" another day in court a few weeks ago in preparation for today's screening of it's sequel - "Finding Dory".
Going in it seemed like this movie existed merely because the first one made so much money.
Nothing wrong with that in itself- film studios are businesses and exist to do just that after all.
But there is still room for quality even when the raison d'etre is box office takings.
As I write this news has come in that "Finding Dory" made $54,000,000 on its opening day in the US alone - a record for an animated film.
Based on the fact that my local cinema had no less than three auditoriums showing advanced screenings it is no surprise that "Finding Dory" is already doing well.
Kids freaking love Pixar movies at the best of times but "Finding Nemo" seemed to resonate particularly well with the young viewers.
Giving the breakout star (Star Fish?) of that movie a movie (mostly) all her own is a box office no-brainer.
To be fair Ellen DeGeneres is a superb comedian and there is every reason to believe that this movie could work.
Things start very well with the traditional Pixar short film that precedes every major release.
In this case it is a truly incredible looking piece of work called "Piper".
The imagery is to all intents and purposes photo-realistic - it is quite a feat of animation.
When "Finding Dory" itself starts it isn't quite as stunning to look at but is still plenty pretty.
This time we start off with Dory living happily with her parents as a very young fish.
The flashback sequence shows her parents (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton- very good) dealing with her short term memory loss.
Back in the present she is living happily still with Nemo and his Father Marlin but is starting to remember bits and pieces of her past including the parents.
Each time Dory remembers something I was reminded of the constant "ooh' moments in the tv show "House MD" when someone said something or did something that miraculously put House on the right path to save a life in the nick of time.
Here we have an entire movie based on the conceit.
After reluctantly agreeing to set off in search of Dory's parents Marlin and Nemo are soon separated from her by way of a marine park rescue boat.
Before you can say 'ka-ching, ka-ching ticket cash incoming!' we have the plot that justifies the title.... if not its existence.
It quickly becomes apparent watching "Finding Dory" that it is a movie looking for a script to go along with the same plot as the first film.
It is all over the place.
The situations that result in Marlin and Nemo constantly being one step behind Dory get increasingly absurd until before you know it fish are driving trucks.
Yes - you read that right.... fish driving trucks.
There is a very apt term to describe what is happening here - 'Jumping the shark'.
I know that it may seem silly to criticise a movie about talking fish for being unrealistic but the first film at least set boundaries as to what was possible.
It existed in its own reality.
"Finding Dory" utilises an octopus and a bird in ways that were this a live action movie critics would be screaming 'Deus Ex Machina!'
Well, that is what I am doing anyway.
Many times that a situation needed resolving in came the Octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill) with his powers of camouflage to save the day.
Other times it is Becky the bird who miraculously has moments of rare clarity just as her powers of bucket carrying flight are needed.
It makes fools of the human characters that they cannot spot the sealife behaving like this but by the time they do it absolutely obliterates any pretence of contextual realism.
Yeah- it is a film about talking fish but I stress again that it needs to have its own rules and this movie doesn't.
Maybe it is the age old requirement to go bigger and bolder when making a sequel but there was no need here.
An intimate story would have served it better rather than an everything but the kitchen sink approach.
As pretty as many of the action sequences are- and the truck moment is truly stunning and genuinely funny- most of them come off as just ridiculous.
There is a shortage of humour too.
There are laughs but not enough I think.
Most come courtesy of Idris Elba and Dominic West as the seals Fluke and Rudder.
The pair are very funny but there is only so much heavy lifting they can do in roles occupying relatively few minutes of screen time.
What the first film did with a very simple premise was to wrap it up in a theme of parental over-protectiveness and keep the characters firmly in line with it.
"Finding Dory" isn't really 'about' anything and with a recycled plot that used up all of its ideas the first time round much of the film feels like padding in order to get to a respectable running time.
There is a half explored theme about Dory's memory loss as a disability to be dealt with but can't compare to the amazing writing in "Inside Out" which does it much, much better.
I have no doubt that this will do gangbusters business and kids will love it but even for someone who doesn't rave about the first film and didn't have any expectations of this one I was disappointed.
I cannot stress enough that it looks utterly amazing and the work of Pixar's animators continues to be mighty impressive.
It's just a shame that the writers didn't come to the party and match them with a script that pops with humour, excitement, tension and pacing.
As I stated- it won't matter and this movie will probably result in another sequel.
The studio is at its best when they produce one off original content like "Inside Out" and "Ratatouille".
We are about to get a third "Cars" movie, a fourth "Toy Story" and a second "Incredibles" and I sincerely hope that they know what they are doing.
RATING: 71 / 100
CONCLUSION: Oh so pretty but evidence that this movie exists purely for financial reasons soon emerges in a shonky script that seems to be 75% padding. Decent and very pretty to look this is nonetheless lesser Pixar.
Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Bill Hader, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Diane Keaton, Ed O'Neill, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy, Kate McKinnon, Hayden Rolence , Sigourney Weaver, Kaitlin Olson, Sloane Murray, Bob Peterson
Screenplay: Andrew Stanton
Music Score by: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Jeremy Lasky
Edited by: Axel Geddes
Running Time: 103 minutes
Rated: G - safe for all!
I think that both Disney and Pixar have done far better work and I find both films pretty ordinary.
I even gave "Finding Nemo" another day in court a few weeks ago in preparation for today's screening of it's sequel - "Finding Dory".
Going in it seemed like this movie existed merely because the first one made so much money.
Nothing wrong with that in itself- film studios are businesses and exist to do just that after all.
But there is still room for quality even when the raison d'etre is box office takings.
As I write this news has come in that "Finding Dory" made $54,000,000 on its opening day in the US alone - a record for an animated film.
Based on the fact that my local cinema had no less than three auditoriums showing advanced screenings it is no surprise that "Finding Dory" is already doing well.
Kids freaking love Pixar movies at the best of times but "Finding Nemo" seemed to resonate particularly well with the young viewers.
Giving the breakout star (Star Fish?) of that movie a movie (mostly) all her own is a box office no-brainer.
To be fair Ellen DeGeneres is a superb comedian and there is every reason to believe that this movie could work.
Things start very well with the traditional Pixar short film that precedes every major release.
In this case it is a truly incredible looking piece of work called "Piper".
The imagery is to all intents and purposes photo-realistic - it is quite a feat of animation.
When "Finding Dory" itself starts it isn't quite as stunning to look at but is still plenty pretty.
 |
| Apart from the original 3 leads Crush, Mr Ray and other old favourites return in small cameos |
The flashback sequence shows her parents (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton- very good) dealing with her short term memory loss.
Back in the present she is living happily still with Nemo and his Father Marlin but is starting to remember bits and pieces of her past including the parents.
Each time Dory remembers something I was reminded of the constant "ooh' moments in the tv show "House MD" when someone said something or did something that miraculously put House on the right path to save a life in the nick of time.
Here we have an entire movie based on the conceit.
After reluctantly agreeing to set off in search of Dory's parents Marlin and Nemo are soon separated from her by way of a marine park rescue boat.
Before you can say 'ka-ching, ka-ching ticket cash incoming!' we have the plot that justifies the title.... if not its existence.
It quickly becomes apparent watching "Finding Dory" that it is a movie looking for a script to go along with the same plot as the first film.
It is all over the place.
The situations that result in Marlin and Nemo constantly being one step behind Dory get increasingly absurd until before you know it fish are driving trucks.
Yes - you read that right.... fish driving trucks.
There is a very apt term to describe what is happening here - 'Jumping the shark'.
I know that it may seem silly to criticise a movie about talking fish for being unrealistic but the first film at least set boundaries as to what was possible.
It existed in its own reality.
"Finding Dory" utilises an octopus and a bird in ways that were this a live action movie critics would be screaming 'Deus Ex Machina!'
Well, that is what I am doing anyway.
Many times that a situation needed resolving in came the Octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill) with his powers of camouflage to save the day.
Other times it is Becky the bird who miraculously has moments of rare clarity just as her powers of bucket carrying flight are needed.
It makes fools of the human characters that they cannot spot the sealife behaving like this but by the time they do it absolutely obliterates any pretence of contextual realism.
Yeah- it is a film about talking fish but I stress again that it needs to have its own rules and this movie doesn't.
 |
| Of the new characters some add humour (far left) while others exist to plu plot holes (left, centre and right) |
An intimate story would have served it better rather than an everything but the kitchen sink approach.
As pretty as many of the action sequences are- and the truck moment is truly stunning and genuinely funny- most of them come off as just ridiculous.
There is a shortage of humour too.
There are laughs but not enough I think.
Most come courtesy of Idris Elba and Dominic West as the seals Fluke and Rudder.
The pair are very funny but there is only so much heavy lifting they can do in roles occupying relatively few minutes of screen time.
What the first film did with a very simple premise was to wrap it up in a theme of parental over-protectiveness and keep the characters firmly in line with it.
"Finding Dory" isn't really 'about' anything and with a recycled plot that used up all of its ideas the first time round much of the film feels like padding in order to get to a respectable running time.
There is a half explored theme about Dory's memory loss as a disability to be dealt with but can't compare to the amazing writing in "Inside Out" which does it much, much better.
I have no doubt that this will do gangbusters business and kids will love it but even for someone who doesn't rave about the first film and didn't have any expectations of this one I was disappointed.
I cannot stress enough that it looks utterly amazing and the work of Pixar's animators continues to be mighty impressive.
It's just a shame that the writers didn't come to the party and match them with a script that pops with humour, excitement, tension and pacing.
As I stated- it won't matter and this movie will probably result in another sequel.
The studio is at its best when they produce one off original content like "Inside Out" and "Ratatouille".
We are about to get a third "Cars" movie, a fourth "Toy Story" and a second "Incredibles" and I sincerely hope that they know what they are doing.
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